University of Turku won the Finnish local Research Challenge 2023
It is always a very exciting day at CFA Society Finland when we get to organize the local Research Challenge final for the talented student teams taking part in the competition. This year the final event was held on 16th February at Nasdaq Helsinki. Research Challenge committee chair Markku Leppälä, CFA, acted as the host for the event. Other board members of the RC committee this season were Onni Hautala, CFA, Joonas Huttunen, CFA, Tuomas Hillukala, CFA, and Toni Iivonen, CFA.
As judges this year performed Niina Arkko, CFA, Senior Responsible Investment Specialist at Ilmarinen, Ashish Bhardwaj, Portfolio Manager at Fidelity International, Jutta Rahikainen, Head of Equity and Credit Research at SEB Finland and Kari Vatanen, CFA, Chief Investment Officer at Veritas Pension Insurance Company. We were delighted to have such an esteemed panel of judges present at out event.
Based on the written report gradings the three university teams chosen for the final were Aalto University with Eerika Hanttu, Aki Laiho, Lauri Karimo, Tino Salin and Tina Winiger; University of Eastern Finland with Eetu Jansson, Olli Matilainen, Ilmari Mäkelä, Kimmo Rautiainen and Arttu Ruhanen; and University of Turku, with Lassi Honkanen, Veeti Härkönen, Paavo Koljonen, Otto Pajala and Markus Salminen. All the teams gave excellent presentations based on their research analysis on Valmet Oyj.
After a tight race as winner this year was crowned University of Turku team. Warm congratulations, an amazing job from the winning team, as from all the teams, as this competition requires a lot of hard work and dedication for many months. As a highlight of the event, Turku team got to ring the closing bell at the end of the trading day.
The winning team: Paavo Koljonen, Lassi Honkanen, Veeti Härkönen, Markus Salminen and Otto Pajala.
Henrik Husman presenting.
While the judges were deliberating their decision the audience got to listen to an interesting presentation by the President of Nasdaq Helsinki, Henrik Husman. Mr. Husman gave a good introduction to Nasdaq Helsinki, its operations and 110 year history, what their role is in the Nordics and globally, how the recent turmoil has affected the trading of stocks, what the core values are at Nasdaq Helsinki, and what the future looks like for stock exchanges right now. We are really thankful to Nasdaq for offering us the space and delicious refreshments for our final event. Special thanks to Riikka Leppänen at Nasdaq!
As always, many people make this competition possible, thank you to all faculty advisors, mentors and graders. Volunteer help is truly valued.
We wish good luck to Turku team for the next step, the Northern Europe sub-regional competition! The sub-regional competition kicks off in March, followed by EMEA and other regional rounds in April. The Global Research Challenge final is organized 3rd May in Washington D.C.
All photography and video by Pekka Lähteenmäki.
The RC task force at the final: Tuomas Hillukkala, Joonas Huttunen, Onni Hautala, Markku Leppälä, and Satu Hautamäki.